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Friday, February 01, 2013

Big Beer, Monastic Beer, Irreverent Beer

Beer news of the world:

1. How big is too big?
If the Department of Justice has its say, this is:

For more than a decade, the world’s biggest brewers have been
swallowing competitor after competitor as they grapple with slowing
growth in many markets. Now, the Obama administration wants to cut them
off.

The Justice Department on Thursday sued to block Anheuser-Busch InBev’s
$20.1 billion deal to buy Grupo Modelo, the Mexican maker of Corona
beer, saying that the merger would cement Anheuser-Busch InBev’s control
of the market and enable it to continue to raise beer prices. Grupo
Modelo is the third-biggest beer company in the United States.

I'm with the DOJ. It's not just the size of the beer companies themselves--you have to consider the influence they would wield over hop and malt suppliers, distributors, and retailers. Half the US market is enough InBud. Let Modelo go.

2. Engelszell Stift gets its button.
We were alerted a year ago to the news that an Austrian Trappist monastery had applied for official designation as a Trappist brewery. I checked back a few times to see if the International Trappist Association had approved, but it's apparently a slooooow process. (Monks have never been known as speedy deciders.) I'm not sure when the approval happened--I must have missed the ITA's tweet--but they're in. Update your records--there are now eight certified Trappist breweries.

3. Revelations does not mention beer.
This cracked me up: yesterday Double Mountain released a new beer called White Rider of Conquest. The description:

Revelations, Chap. 6:1: And I saw when Coughlin opened one of the beers, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 6:2: And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a beer; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, with his Ale. 8.7% ABV, 29BU

The actual text is sadly less interesting. Coughlin, incidentally, is Matt, a DM brewer. I believe the text, however, was amended by devilish Matt Swihart.